Volunteers donate the power of their computers to help scientists in the fight against covid

Volunteers around the world, science enthusiasts, are donating the computing power of their computers and smartphones to scientists who needed massive processing power to conduct virtual experiments.

OpenPandemics volunteers have so far performed the equivalent of 70,000 years of computing power. In other words, a single-processor PC would need to work that long to perform the calculations. Since May, they have completed 168 million computing tasks, a rate of approximately one million computational tasks per day.

With their input, they have helped scientists identify 70 virtual compounds to be tested for their ability to inhibit SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the pandemic, with the possible hope of leading to new treatment options.

The finding results from a voluntary and massive crowdsourcing project which took place in a program hosted in IBM’s cloud.

Thanks to World Community Grid, which runs on the IBM Cloud, scientists were able to take the research process’s first steps while their lab was closed due to the pandemic.

Volunteers can download a secure IBM World Community Grid app, based on the IBM Cloud, Android, PC, Mac or Raspberry Pi devices. It processes calculations for scientists when not in use. Technology promotes this free and easy way to help scientific research.

IBM detects computer attacks against the chain to distribute vaccines

This year, the American technology company also carried out an investigation in its department of a fight against cybercrime, IBM Security X-Force. It detected a campaign of cyber attacks of high precision against the cold chain that should serve to facilitate the distribution of vaccines against covid-19.

 The campaign began in September 2020, and in addition to the European Commission, it affected five countries: Germany, Italy, Korea South, the Czech Republic and Taiwan.

The focus was partner organizations with Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance’s Cold Chain Equipment Optimization Platform (CCEOP) program, since vaccines, such as those developed by Pfizer and Moderna, have to be stored at temperatures of -70 degrees.

Although a firm attribution could not be established for this campaign, the precise targeting of executives and key global organizations has the potential signs of an action sponsored by some State, IBM noted.

The targets of these orchestrated attacks included the EC’s Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, organizations within the energy, manufacturing, website and software creation, and internet security solutions sectors.